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"No one is doing that because we're all just imagining that no one takes drugs because it's bad and illegal.

"It wouldn't be a free-for-all."

Following his son's death, Andy said he had decided to retire from his job as a senior executive at a wealth management company.

"I was struggling to cope and trying to carry on," he said.

"I got through 2017, but I decided I needed to be spending more time with my wife and my other two sons."

He is now a supporter of the Anyone's Child network, which supports families who have lost members to drugs.

A statement from the organisation said: "No one doubts that drugs can be dangerous – that’s why we should do all we can to prevent children and young people from taking them.

"But banning drugs and criminalising those who get involved with them causes even more harm.

"Drug-gang violence, countless lives ruined by criminal records for possession, and entirely avoidable deaths from contaminated street drugs – the damage caused by the current approach can no longer be ignored.

"We need to move beyond fear, discrimination and punishment, and towards drug laws that are centred around honesty, compassion and health."